Starship Armstrong - Season 3

Part 3 - The Statue Of Dr. Kang (II)

The coastal city looked closer than it was from the vantage point of the cliff. It took the group hours to hike down into the sad forest of weak, malnourished trees and through the brown and yellow grass to the city.

"City" was a strong word. The majority of the buildings were made of mud and woven straw. There was a small amount of cyclopean stonework, but nothing particularly skillful. Virtually nothing was made of wood, despite the presence of the nearby forest.

There were no walls to speak of, except in rare cases around individual estates, and so the team followed the road deeper into town. Again "road" was a strong word. It was a path through the dead grass that had been worn from use into a dirt trail.

A little ways down this road the group could see some multi-story stone buildings looming in the distance over the tiny mud dwellings.

"We'll make for those larger buildings over there," said Mitzner, pointing. "That's likely where we'll find whoever is in charge."

The noise she made seemed to attract some attention. Mitzner became aware of several pairs of eyes watching the group from dark windows. Her enhanced hearing picked up low whispers, but she couldn't make out the words.

"If anyone can hear me," Mitzner said, as the group continued to walk, "we are explorers. We come in peace."

More people began to gather openly and watch the group, but none approached. They were dressed in roughly cured animal hides and woven reeds. Many had tools of what looked like salvaged scrap metal.

"We don't mean any harm," said Mitzner. "Like I said we're explorers.

The people continued to watch silently. More were gathering.

"Do they even speak Martian?" asked McAfree.

The people were talking amongst themselves, and it didn't seem like they did.

The group kept walking and the assembled watchers followed at a respectful distance. In this way they gathered something of an entourage.

Finally they came to what must have passed for a town square in this village, where even more villagers were waiting for them and murmuring.

"These people have regressed quite far," Dr. Kang observed, "I doubt there's much a first contact vessel like ours could do here. This is a long term uplift project."

"I believe I'm inclined to agree with you, Doctor," said Mitzner, looking around.

That's when she spotted it. She gasped audibly, which got the attention of the others and they all looked too.

There was a statute. It was barely a statue, more of a lumpen abstract stone representation of a human, but to the extent that it even looked like a person it looked a little like Dr. Kang. There was something about the shape of the chin, and the implication of a jacket. They might have missed the resemblance had Mitzner not gasped, but once alerted to it it was hard to miss.

The villagers surrounded the group in a thick ring and continued to talk amongst themselves in a language that didn't sound like Martian. The ring parted, and the villagers grew silent.

An old man wearing the tattered, threadbare remnants of an Imperial governor's uniform walked slowly through the opening. He was flanked by two younger people, a man and a woman, both wearing woven straw capes. All three were adorned with mummified animal limbs, shiny rocks on leather strings, and other primitive baubles. 

"AS WAS FORETOLD IN OLD TIMES," he bellowed, his voice surprisingly resonant given his evident frailty, "THE CHOSEN ONE IS COME!"

The woman yelled something in the local language, likely repeating what the old man had said.

"No," said Mitzner, "No, no, no, no, no."

"That's not enough no's," said McAfree.